Havioli Some Ravioli

On Tuesday I made ravioli for some friends. When I say this, I don't mean that I heated the contents of a can or even dumped a frozen package into boiling water for eleven minutes. I mean I made ravioli from scratch.

They were filled with crimini mushrooms and acorn squash. I had an idea of what this juxtaposition would taste like, which I found to be quite wrong (though the actual flavor was quite good). Also, I used ricotta salata instead of traditional ricotta. Salata is dry, preventing excessive moisture from the combination of ricotta and squash. Further, the consistency of the squash eliminated the need for an egg in the filling, generally essential for it's binding properties.

I made the dough using an old family recipe. I departed from the recipe by using a bowl, as opposed to mixing it directly on the countertop, which my great grandmother insisted was the only way. It's a very technical recipe, featuring half an eggshell of water, a pinch of salt, and a splash of olive oil. These ingredients are added to one egg and one cup of flour, though really you gradually add flour until the correct texture is reached.

The amount of flour varies inexplicably. This particular time I needed a lot of flour, resulting in my having a lot of extra dough. Using said dough, I baked two olive oil and basil flat breads. I very much enjoy both baking and eating bread, so these were a welcome surprise.

People will debate sauce until they are blue in the face, and I will let them do so. For me, there is no reasonably-priced sauce that compares to Prego Traditional. It's simple, good if used straight from the jar, and easy to adapt for a lot if different recipes. Further, it was on sale.

People use a wide variety of tools when making ravioli and other fresh pasta. Personally, I use a rolling pin, a teaspoon, and a knife. Roll thin, fill, cut, fold. It's that simple. I find the tools entirely unnecessary, with the possible exception of a pasta roller. In the near future, I hope to move into a better apartment with a bigger kitchen, at which point I plan to buy a pasta roller. A rolling pin simply consumes too much time to achieve a not-entirely-consistent result.

In the end, making ravioli is more expensive and more difficult than buying it. You do know exactly what goes into it, which is always nice. But more importantly, it's as much fun to make it as it is to eat it. At the end of the day, it's all worth it.

On Tuesday I made ravioli for some friends. When I say this, I don't mean that I heated the contents of a can or even dumped a frozen package into boiling water for eleven minutes. I mean I made ravioli from scratch.

They were filled with crimini mushrooms and acorn squash. I had an idea of what this juxtaposition would taste like, which I found to be quite wrong (though the actual flavor was quite good). Also, I used ricotta salata instead of traditional ricotta. Salata is dry, preventing excessive moisture from the combination of ricotta and squash. Further, the consistency of the squash eliminated the need for an egg in the filling, generally essential for it's binding properties.

I made the dough using an old family recipe. I departed from the recipe by using a bowl, as opposed to mixing it directly on the countertop, which my great grandmother insisted was the only way. It's a very technical recipe, featuring half an eggshell of water, a pinch of salt, and a splash of olive oil. These ingredients are added to one egg and one cup of flour, though really you gradually add flour until the correct texture is reached.

The amount of flour varies inexplicably. This particular time I needed a lot of flour, resulting in my having a lot of extra dough. Using said dough, I baked two olive oil and basil flat breads. I very much enjoy both baking and eating bread, so these were a welcome surprise.

People will debate sauce until they are blue in the face, and I will let them do so. For me, there is no reasonably-priced sauce that compares to Prego Traditional. It's simple, good if used straight from the jar, and easy to adapt for a lot if different recipes. Further, it was on sale.

People use a wide variety of tools when making ravioli and other fresh pasta. Personally, I use a rolling pin, a teaspoon, and a knife. Roll thin, fill, cut, fold. It's that simple. I find the tools entirely unnecessary, with the possible exception of a pasta roller. In the near future, I hope to move into a better apartment with a bigger kitchen, at which point I plan to buy a pasta roller. A rolling pin simply consumes too much time to achieve a not-entirely-consistent result.

In the end, making ravioli is more expensive and more difficult than buying it. You do know exactly what goes into it, which is always nice. But more importantly, it's as much fun to make it as it is to eat it. At the end of the day, it's all worth it.

Havioli Some Ravioli